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The Host
'' |image= |series= |production=40274-197 |producer(s)= |story= |script=Michel Horvat |director=Marvin V. Rush |imdbref=tt0708800 |guests=Barbara Tarbuck as Governor Leka Trion, Nicole Orth-Pallavicini as Kareel Odan, William Newman as Kalin Trose, Patti Yasutake as Nurse Alyssa Ogawa and Franc Luz as Odan |previous_production=Half a Life |next_production=The Mind's Eye |episode=TNG D23 |airdate=13 May 1991 |previous_release=Half a Life |next_release=The Mind's Eye |story_date(s)=Stardates 44821.3-44824.4 |previous_story=Half a Life |next_story=The Mind's Eye }} Summary Dr. Crusher falls in love with Odan, a Trillian mediator en route to settle a bitter dispute between Pellar's Alpha and Beta moons, but while shuttling down to the surface, he is mortally wounded by a marauding ship; in surgery his 'Dr. Beverly' is shocked to find a parasite living inside him. Her surprise is compounded when she learns that Odan himself is the parasite occupying the host body, in a joint symbiotic arrangement the Trill have used for generations. As the dispute grows more intense, Riker volunteers to be Odan's host while a replacement is sent. Although Riker's human body adjusts to it's new 'co-tenant,' Dr. Crusher cannot accept the first officer as her lover. Odan agrees to stay away. The moon's delegates are just as uneasy about the situation, but Odan convinces them he can be trusted. Finally Dr. Crusher decides she can accept Odan, even in Riker's body, and they spend one more night together. Odan then settles the political dispute in a marathon session that greatly weakens Riker's body. Dr. Crusher removes Odan to save Riker's body, and both recover well. Then the expected Trill host body replacement arrives, only to turn out to be female. Crestfallen, Beverly admits that she can't take Odan's constant changes. The two do, however, exchange vows of love before Odan leaves. Errors and Explanations Plot Oversights # Where does Odan go when implanted into Riler? Maybe the symbiont was pressed against the internal organs, thus increasing the pressure on Riker's body. Changed Premesis # The new host not appearing to meet the 'Best and brightest' requirement. She may have been the only one available to reach the Enterprise in time for Odan to still be alive for the implantation. # Odan claiming transporter use will harm the symbiont, but Dax in Deep Space Nine using the transporter without any trouble. Mike Nuss on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 6:29 pm:(Nit Central) I guess you could explain it by saying that all Federation transporters were upgraded to be compatible with Trill physiology after this episode... but that's just silly. Seniram 10:02, August 17, 2015 (UTC) A more logical explanation is that it was only Odan's host who had a problem with transporters, possibly due to the symbiote experiencing a transporter malfunction while in a previous host. Nit Central # Keith Alan Morgan on Sunday, February 06, 2000 - 7:45 am: Data says it will take him almost an hour to load his findings into the computer. An hour? As fast as Data can be on occasion it will take almost an hour? How much info does he have? Maybe he is loading it at a slower speed, to ensure it is all loaded correctly. # The Alpha moon has tapped into the planet's magnetic field for energy. The graphic Data shows seems to indicate that the energy is in some kind of beam which is dangerous to the Beta moon. What are they doing to the planet's magnetic field? If they are converting it to some other kind of energy and draining it off, I should think it would become a problem for the planet sooner or later. Maybe the magnetic field is self regenerating? # KAM on Friday, July 27, 2001 - 3:50 am: The whole problem between the two moons is that the energy that Alpha moon uses causes damage to the Beta moon when it passes by. So why don't the people of Alpha moon just shut off the energy when Beta moon passes by? Don't they have storage batteries for the excess energy? There may not be enough room for them to have sufficent storage capacity. # Why does Odan wear a communicator badge? Other visitors and other ambassadors have been on the Enterprise and not worn the badges. Is it a voluntary thing? He needs to be contactable in an emergency. # If Dr. Beverly named her two imaginary boys Andrew and Alexander, then why did she name her real son Wesley? Brian Fitzgerald on Friday, July 27, 2001 - 12:17 pm: Perhaps the name Wesley came from Jack Crusher, maybe a name from his family. Captain Obvious on Saturday, July 28, 2001 - 2:00 am: Besides, KAM, she was only a child. Why would an adult necessarily keep this intention decades later as an adult? # On page 264 of the NextGen Guide Phil mentions that Riker's consciousness gets put on hold while he plays host but Phil then assumes that the Trill humanoids suffer the same fate. I don't think the episode ever states whether the minds of Trill hosts gets supplanted or not. Probably not – the relationship would, to my mind, work better as an equal partnership. # Do the lobsteroids know when their `body' is hungry or sleepy or need to go through with other natural body functions? How could they not know? They would – presumably – experience the same side effects of lack of food or sleep as the host. # Do the lobsteroids have to control all the various functions of the host? I think it would make more sense for the host to retain control, while accessing information stored in the lobsteroid's memories for guidence, as Dax does in the raider she and Kira used in The Siege. # How and when do the lobsteroids reproduce? How do we konw if they reproduce at all? # So when Odan was in Riker's body which room did he stay in? (I thought of this when Picard said, "Treat the ambassador in his quarters.") Presumably the ambassador's quarters, so the new host would have partially familiar surroundings in which to finalise the joining. # Dr. Beverly orders Lemon Tea and it materializes with steam already in the air. Why would the Replicator waste matter and energy materializing steam? Possibly to ensure the tea is at the correct temperature. # If Odan is in stasis, then why do we see its body throbbing? Why did Dr. Beverly say that Odan couldn't last much longer? Isn't stasis supposed to stop everything? Perhaps it's in partial stasis, presumably due to the risk of full stasis killing the symbiont. # Why did they keep the symbiont in a clear container under bright light? These things are normally inside a humanoid's body where it is, usually, dark. They may be using the light as a source of energy. # Mike Nuss on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 6:56 pm: '' The female replacement at the end tries to strike up a relationship with Dr. Crusher, despite it being expressly forbidden on Trill. '''I thought the ban only applied to re association of subsequent hosts?' Category:Episodes Category:The Next Generation